Larry Derfner in the Jerusalem Post moves from an analysis of the expat vote issue to the broader theme that only the democratic West, Jewish and not, can save Israel from being a danger to itself and others. Left to itself, it’s a lost cause. Not a new idea of course, but simply and well-expressed.
Even assuming that the expat vote pushes Israel further right, it doesn’t really bother me so much anymore because Israel has effectively become a right-wing monolith. What’s the difference if Likud, Kadima, Israel Beiteinu, Labor or the religious parties – the pro-war coalition – commands 90 percent of the Jewish vote or 95%? What’s the difference if Meretz holds onto its three Knesset seats in the next election or drops to two?
The forces of the Right now run this country without any domestic challenge, and however many votes the expats add to their margin will be nothing more than coals to Newcastle. The Left, the peace camp, can no longer hope to change the country from within. From within, the Right continuously grows more confident; the smearing of Naomi Chazan and the New Israel Fund is only the latest evidence.
For the Left, the domestic political arena is scorched earth. We have to go outside, we have to turn our sights abroad. We have to convince the liberal West and liberal Diaspora Jews that if they go on letting Israel off the hook for the occupation, this country is only going to get more fearful and aggressive, more xenophobic, more intolerant of criticism, more of a danger to itself and others.
We have to convince the West that the only way our body politic will heal itself is if Israelis find out there is a terrible price to pay for being a bully – you end up without friends.
It’s only when Israelis are faced with that alternative that they will end the siege of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank.
